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My USN experiences

I started my USN service as a ADJ with VAQ 133 Wizards at Whidbey Is Wa. I worked on EA-6B.s and loved my job. I went to ADJ A school at NAS Millington Tn and after graduating I returned to Whidbey IS and joined the VAQ 137 Rooks. I planned on making the USN a career so I requested transfer out of the ADJ rate into the TD rate. My first two requests were denied. My squadron commander knew an Admiral at PACAF and the Admiral agreed to write a letter of recommendation which went to BUPERS with my third request to transfer into the TD rate. BUPERS accepted my request and I attended TD A school at NAS Millington and graduated with honors but being a fleet sailor I didn't receive any awards. I had requested FASO NAS North Island Ca. as I had worked out there during my off duty time while my VAQ 137 detachment was there on TAD for carrier qualifications  on the USS Ranger. The detailer at BUPERS decided to send another E-5 to NAS North Island even though I had more time in grade as a E-5. The detailer told me on the phone that the needs of the Navy dictate that E-5 so and so goes there and I get assigned to SSC/NTC Great Lakes as a TD-2. I went to SSC/NTC Great Lakes and even though I had been in aviation I was assigned to the Perry class FFG engine room trainer group of TD.s. There were riots in the streets in North Chicago as the recruits were feeling their oats and started some cars on fire and so on. Being the least senior TD I was selected to become a temp Master at Arms for one barracks and a chief and I ran the barracks. The first two floors were Men and the top floor was WAVS. I did my job and was on assignment for about 2 months before returning to the TD section. By that time I saw the hand writing on the wall and the final straw was the USN decision to put E-6 and below TD's onboard aircraft carriers manning the plat camera for 16 hour flight ops. The TD's up to that time was a land based rate and the USA started assigning construction rate Seabee's to TD rates. Most of the Seabees didn't have any electronic training but they were E-5 and E-6's. I took the TD=1 test and passed and then I learned the USN had to dumb down the E-6 test to the 9th grade reading level because nobody was passing the tests. I got out of the USN and never looked back.

My 20 year old son recently joined the USN and is a Nuclear Electricians mate 3rd class. He is applying for the Navy Academy this coming December and I hope he is selected. I enjoyed my time in the USN and would recommend the USN over other military services. .

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Need help to ID

I am working on a historical documentary style TV program called Who Do You Think You Are?  There is a US version of this show, and a story I’m looking into relates to a US Chief Petty Officer that I’m hoping to identify.

 

I am trying to identify the WWII US Navy serviceman who is in this photograph.  What we know is that he was a Chief Petty Officer with the US Navy, holding the position of Chief Commissaryman.  He was based in Sydney during part of WWII, and was there through at least the early months of 1946.

He connected with a family in Sydney and correspondence has surfaced that paints a picture of this time in history that this gentleman played a role in.

 I’m on a tight deadline, and I’m hoping you may be able to help in circulating this information and image to anyone you think may be able to assist.  Social media, websites and newsletters would be ideal.  If you can think of any organisation or individual who may be able to assist, please let me know or forward this information to them.  Anyone who has any information can contact me on the details below.

 Please don’t hesitate in contacting me if you have any information or questions.  Any assistance with this is greatly appreciated,

 Christian Horgan email: christian@artemisfilms.com

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Ford Island, Pearl Harbour

Does anyone know if the old hangers and tower and terminal still exist on the island? 

I was tdy for a time from Barber's Point to change engines on some P-5 marlins.

Can't find much on Ford Island anymore.

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My Navy Career

I enjoyed the time I was in the Navy. I started out as a Boatswains Mate for 12 years I was a coxswain I drove just about every boat the Navy had. I even became a certified Craftmaster. My last eight years I was a Damage Controlman which I also enjoyed. I entered the Navy on July 26,1976 and I retired Dec.28,1997.
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Most expensive targets

F-16 DRONE

Not a good day for the future of manned aircraft. The pilot is on the endangered list it seems. This little 4 minute Boeing video is really something.... a first for a full size jet airplane.

Thousands of planes that were grave yard bound, with costs in the hundreds of millions, now can be used as never before. These F-16 aircraft have been in the bone yard at Davis-Monthan for 15 years and are now being used as drones!

Scary Robotics ......think of all the other possibilities !
VIDEO: F-16 DRONE

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don't know what to add to this story, except that it apparently is true.

Description: cid:X.MA1.1349194980@aol.com

For a half a century, the US Navy kept a lid on the details of the
incident that prompted this salutation. A Miami news reporter made the first public disclosure in 1958 after he stumbled upon the truth while covering a reunion of the destroyer's crew. The Pentagon reluctantly and tersely confirmed his story, but only a smattering of newspapers took notice.

In 1943, the Willie D as the Porter was nicknamed, accidentally fired a live torpedo at the battleship Iowa during a practice exercise. As if this weren't bad enough, the Iowa was carrying President Franklin D. Roosevelt at the time, along with Secretary of State, Cordell Hull, and all of the country's W.W.II military brass. They were headed for the Big Three Conference in Tehran , where Roosevelt was to meet Stalin and Churchill.

Had the Porter's torpedo struck the Iowa at the aiming point, the last 60 years of world history might have been quite different. The USS William D Porter (DD-579) was one of hundreds of assembly line destroyers built during the war. They mounted several heavy and light guns, but their main armament consisted of 10 fast-running and accurate torpedoes that carried 500-pound warheads. This destroyer was placed in commission on July 1943 under the command of Wilfred Walker, a man on the Navy's fast career track.

In the months before she was detailed to accompany the Iowa across the Atlantic in November 1943, the Porter and her crew learned their trade, experiencing the normal problems that always beset a new ship and a novice crew.

The mishaps grew more serious when she became an escort for the pride of the fleet, the big new battleship Iowa . The night before they left Norfolk, bound for North Africa, the Porter accidentally damaged a nearby sister ship when she backed down along the other ship's side and her anchor tore down the other ship's railings, life rafts, ship's boat and various other formerly valuable pieces of equipment. The Willie D merely had a scraped anchor, but her career of mayhem and mishaps had begun.

Just twenty four hours later, the four-ship convoy, consisting of Iowa and her secret passengers, the Willie D, and two other destroyers, was under strict instructions to maintain complete radio silence. Since they were going through a known U-boat feeding ground, speed and silence were the best defense.

Description: cid:X.MA2.1349194980@aol.com

Suddenly, a tremendous explosion rocked the convoy. All of the ships
commenced anti-submarine maneuvers. This continued until the Porter
sheepishly admitted that one of her depth charges had fallen off her
stern and exploded. The 'safety' had not been set as instructed.
Captain Walker was watching his fast track career become side-tracked.

Shortly thereafter, a freak wave inundated the ship, stripping away
everything that wasn't lashed down. A man washed overboard and was
never found. Next, the fire room lost power in one of its boilers.

The Captain, at this point, was making reports almost hourly to the Iowa about the Willie D's difficulties. It would have been merciful if the force commander had detached the hard luck ship and sent her back to Norfolk . But, no, she sailed on.

The morning of 14 November 1943 dawned with a moderate sea and pleasant weather. The Iowa and her escorts were just east of Bermuda , and the president and his guests wanted to see how the big ship could defend herself against an air attack. So, the Iowa launched a number of weather balloons to use as anti-aircraft targets. It was exciting to see more than 100 guns shooting at the balloons, and the President was proud of his Navy.

Just as proud was Admiral Ernest J King, the Chief of Naval Operations;
large in size and by demeanor, a true monarch of the sea.

Disagreeing with him meant the end of a naval career. Up to this time,
no one knew what firing a torpedo at him would mean. Over on the Willie D, Captain Walker watched the fireworks display with admiration and envy.

Thinking about career redemption and breaking the hard luck spell, the
Captain sent his impatient crew to battle stations. They began to shoot
down the balloons the Iowa had missed as they drifted into the Porter's
vicinity.

Down on the torpedo mounts, the crew watched, waiting to take some
practice shots of their own on the big battleship, which, even though
6,000 yards away, seemed to blot out the horizon. Lawton Dawson and
Tony Fazio were among those responsible for the torpedoes. Part of
their job involved ensuring that the primers were installed during
actual combat and removed during practice. Once a primer was installed, on a command to fire, it would explode shooting the torpedo out of its tube. Dawson , on this particular morning, unfortunately had forgotten to remove the primer from torpedo tube #3. Up on the bridge, a new torpedo officer, unaware of the danger, ordered a simulated firing. "Fire 1, Fire 2," and finally, "Fire 3." There was no Fire 4 as the sequence was interrupted by an unmistakable whooooooshhhhing sound made by a successfully launched and armed torpedo. Lt H. Steward Lewis, who witnessed the entire event, later described the next few minutes as
what hell would look like if it ever broke loose.

Just after he saw the torpedo hit water on its way to the Iowa and soof the most prominent figures in world history, Lewis innocently asked the Captain, 'Did you give permission to fire a torpedo?' Captain Walker's reply will not ring down through naval history, although words
to the effect of Farragut's immortal 'Damn the torpedoes' figured centrally within.

Initially there was some reluctance to admit what had happened, or even to warn the Iowa . As the awful reality sunk in, people began racing around, shouting conflicting instructions and attempting to warn the flagship of imminent danger.

First, there was a flashing light warning about the torpedo which
unfortunately indicated the torpedo was headed in another direction.

Next, the Porter signaled that the torpedo was going reverse at full
speed!

Finally, they decided to break the strictly enforced radio silence. The
radio operator on the destroyer transmitted "'Lion (code for the Iowa ),
Lion, come right." The Iowa operator, more concerned about radio
procedure, requested that the offending station identify itself first.

Finally, the message was received and the Iowa began turning to avoid
the speeding torpedo.

Meanwhile, on the Iowa 's bridge, word of the torpedo firing had reached FDR, who asked that his wheelchair be moved to the railing so he could see better what was coming his way. His loyal Secret Service guard immediately drew his pistol as if he was going to shoot the torpedo. As the Iowa began evasive maneuvers, all of her guns were trained on
the William D. Porter. There was now some thought that the Porter was part of an assassination plot.

Within moments of the warning, there was a tremendous explosion just
behind the battleship. The torpedo had been detonated by the wash
kicked up by the battleship's increased speed.

The crisis was over and so was Captain Walker's career. His final
utterance to the Iowa , in response to a question about the origin of
the torpedo, was a weak, "We did it."

Shortly thereafter, the brand new destroyer, her Captain and the entire
crew were placed under arrest and sent to Bermuda for trial. It was the
first time that a complete ship's company had been arrested in the
history of the US Navy.

The ship was surrounded by Marines when it docked in Bermuda , and held there several days as the closed session inquiry attempted to determine what had happened.

Torpedo man Dawson eventually confessed to having inadvertently left
the primer in the torpedo tube, which caused the launching. Dawson had thrown the used primer over the side to conceal his mistake. The whole incident was chalked up to an unfortunate set of circumstances and placed under a cloak of secrecy.

Someone had to be punished. Captain Walker and several other Porter
officers and sailors eventually found themselves in obscure shore
assignments. Dawson was sentenced to 14 years hard labor.

President Roosevelt intervened; however, asking that no punishment be
meted out for what was clearly an accident.

The destroyer William D. Porter was banished to the upper Aleutians . It
was probably thought this was as safe a place as any for the ship and
anyone who came near her.

She remained in the frozen north for almost a year, until late 1944, when she was re-assigned to the Western Pacific. However, before leaving the Aleutians , she accidentally left her calling card in the form of a five-inch shell fired into the front yard of the American Base
Commander, thus rearranging his flower garden rather suddenly.

In December, 1944, the Porter joined the Philippine invasion forces and
acquitted herself quite well. She distinguished herself by shooting
down a number of attacking Japanese aircraft. Regrettably, after the
war, it was reported that she also shot down three American planes.
This was a common event on ships, as many gunners, fearful of
kamikazes, had nervous trigger fingers.

In April, 1945, the destroyer Porter was assigned to support the
invasion of Okinawa . By this time, the greeting "Don't Shoot, We're
Republicans" was commonplace and the crew of the Willie D had become used to the ribbing.

But the crew of her sister ship, the USS Luce, was not so polite in its
salutations after the Porter accidentally riddled her side and
superstructure with gunfire.

On 10 June, 1945, the Porter's hard luck finally ran out. She was sunk
by a plane which had (unintentionally) attacked it from underwater. A
Japanese bomber made almost entirely of wood and canvas slipped through the Navy's defense.

Having little in the way of metal surfaces, the plane didn't register
on radar. A fully loaded kamikaze, it was headed for a ship near the
Porter, but just at the last moment veered away and crashed alongside
the unlucky destroyer. There was a sigh of relief as the plane sunk out
of sight, but then it blew up underneath the Porter, opening her hull
in the worst possible place.

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It is with deep regret and sorrow that I announce the passing of PR Master Chief Morris Turnage. Chief Turnage and I served together at NAS NORVA for many years. My sincerest condolences to his widow and family. He was a true friend and shipmate.   Rest in Peace my brother until we meet on the other side.

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Caidence, and faces

I told this story to a Army National Gaurd Sgt. reserve.. and he claim we could have never sung these...

 We had an occasional cc/ chief who lead us in cadence , he was of African American Decent I remember.. He would begin, holding a boom box, loudly playing the 70' s pop song "Car Wash". We moved fast in step. He would then begin with this cadence, I know you ain't no volunteers, the DRAFT BOARDS gone and sent you here! So Sound off, Sound off, 1-2-3-4--1---2! Hard Tack , Biscuts Navy Beans, Ain't your mommas cook'n you been weaned.. so Sound OFF Sound OFF 1-2-3-4- 1 ---1---2! So if your Yeoman is a fag, let me hear that Left foot Drag...!  I Don't know but I been told Double OH Six is Good as Gold..... My national gaurd sgt coughed.. and repeated some song about Phillis Diller. he learned. a couple of years ago.. Our's was a different. time.

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Plastic Pipe Patch Repair School

I don't know just how many out there had this little beauty of a school in their list of educational doctrines to brag about later in life, but I , for one, was one who went there because some pencil jockey thought he could get rid of me for three days.

The school was in a hot, musty, downstairs classroom on Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay.  And it was so well hidden, I almost didn't find it at all, which MAY have been a blessing, but now days, I am glad I went there and collected some smarts about a few things.

The class was about how to patch a leak or a hole in a pipe aboard ship and involved using two part resins and other materials to get the job done.  I learned all about things like kick times, temperature controls, different types of resins and epoxies, what could be used as a dam to control the resins, or what could be used to put into the resins to bolster their strength and make a better patch on a leaking pipe.

I never used a single bit of anything I learned in that school while I was in the United States Navy.  Really.  No kidding at all here.

BUT...And I am sincere with this....I have used it a lot since I have been OUT of the Navy.  In my work here at home and at a professional job, I have used quite a bit of epoxy resin and cyanoacrylates, as well as one and two or even a few three part resins to do some real neat stuff.

I don't want to be accused of any advertisements for products on here, because I don't work for any of these outfits.  Nobody pays me a dime for using their crap.  And that is a pity, because I could sure use the bucks.

My skills as a Navy MOLDER showed me various ways to make a cavity, or mold form, that would produce a desired shape to a given material if I could get it in there and allow it to set and become a solid piece that I could use to make a project work.  Modeling clay, cellophane tape, wood and metal forms and framing have all been applied to cast a resin liquid into a solid part.  It is really cool to do it like this.

I have made many different parts and pieces for projects  and even made a mold to make mold for a friend which he and his family are using to produce a moose call, which is being sold in stores right now as I write this.  They sell pretty well, too, and he has even got a few videos out on how to use the moose calls he makes, and even I placed second in a moose calling contest at the Anchorage Sportsman's Show a few years ago using the very moose calls made from my molds.

Working with resins has been a real treat for me.  Controlling the temperature to make it set quicker or slower and mixing colors and other items to achieve a desired effect, Using different types of resins to do a particular type of job.

It's been interesting and fun.

One item I discovered in the store is called "JB Weld"  This stuff has been used by me to patch holes in engine heads, cast a draw stop for my son's compound archery bow, fix my Lazy-Boy recliner by casting the stuff into holes and using cellophane tape as a dam and embedding parts into a location to form a base for some of my gun smithing projects.

Using the different Cyanoacrylates has been fun.  Slow set, quick set, gels and using it for stuff like wood and metals.  Way cool.  I can glue just about anything to anything else.

Other stuff such as contact cements and slow set glues are a real blast to use on things if I want to make them do different things.

Doing stuff with fiberglass and materials in this class of Polyester resins has allowed me to make repairs on my canoe out in the bush and be able to get it to set even if it is cold out and knowing how to control the kick time is important here,.

Silicone and latex caulk aren't just for the bathroom either.  They can be a real time saver in the out doors too.

After my wife wrapped my Datsun pick-up around a tree one winter, it took some real knowledge and skill to plug up the holes where the body of the truck once was.  And the new windshield didn't fit quite right either.  Some foam rubber coated with a nice silicone caulk of the appropriate color and stuffed into the large holes helped keep the warm air inside the cab so I wasn't quite so cold driving around.

All this from an obscure school on Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay.......

What a Blessing it has been for me. 

 

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Centerville patch and shoulder patch

If anyone has a Centerville Station patch or the shoulder patch. I would like to buy them from you. Mine were lost when my mother died she had all my stuff and my step-father got rid of them.

Larry Long

540 Doral Drive

Williamstown, NJ 08094

856-629-9363

L1long1fst@Verizon.net

Thank You

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June 6, 1944

by David W.Asche

The stuff you don't read about in the History books or see in many movies.

On that day so many years ago, it began for my father this way:

At about 01:00, he arose and dressed, went and had breakfast. They were serving steak and eggs instead of the usual cheaper breakfasts that morning. After breakfast, he went to check on his boat, an LCVP, one of many that were riding in the cradles on the USS Charles Carroll (APA-28) still anchored off the coast of England. He had to be sure the boat was fueled and all the things for the engine and drive train were in order. At about 02:00, the ship weighed anchor and began the trip across the channel to the coast of Normandy, France.

An LCVP was 37 feet long and had a crew of three men. One coxswain's mate who steered the boat, a Machinist's Mate that tended to the engine and the other things such as cleaning the sand traps and a "Bow Hook" who operated the bow door

Most of the troops had already been loaded aboard the ship and had to endure an extra day/night on the ship due to the weather and the invasion had been set back a day. The troops were elements of the US Army 29th infantry that were all crowded down in the troops quarters. The holds of the ship were loaded with tanks, jeeps, guns, ammunition supplies, food, bazookas, Bangalore Torpedoes, and all the things needed to invade the hostile shores of NAZI occupied France.

It took about two hours for the Charles Carroll to cross the channel and she dropped her anchor in the assigned moorage and began unloading her boats, which meant that my father was one of a crew of three men and he had began his day on the water.

He had done this same thing many, MANY times, as they all had to do training assaults with loads of troops and equipment, and the Charles Carroll had already done landings in North Africa, Sicily and Salerno, Italy some time before the June 6 date off Normandy. My father was what is known as a "Plank Owner" which is a member of the very first crew of a new ship. He made all the landings of the Carroll, including all the training landings made at friendly beachheads.

The boats did their little "circle jerk" in four groups around the ship until all the boats were in the water, then began the dangerous and time consuming job of each boat coming to a specific area alongside the ship and having troops loaded with their packs and rifles and other gear to climb down the nets and get into the boats.

As each boat was loaded, they went back to their "circle jerk" stations and went around in circles until all the boats were loaded.

MEANWHILE, the shit had began to hit the fan for the Germans on shore as battleships, cruisers and destroyers all had begun shelling various places on shore to destroy the gun emplacements and machine gun nests that had been engineered by Erwin Rommel and had been designed to stop any attempt at any kind of invasion. The racket of the shelling was deafening and the shock waves of the big guns going off would shake a mans insides out in a small landing boat.

Not only were there gun emplacements, but there were mines and all manner of obstacles built and placed on the beach that would rip a hole in a flimsy plywood LCVP, or maybe just blow it all to hell with the mines.

At the appropriate time, the first wave of boats started for the beaches based on the vague maps each boat coxwain (driver) had and all the boats had to stay in line and keep going, no matter what happened to the boats on each side of the one my father was in. I say "vague maps" because some of the maps were not very clear, AND some of the landmarks the boats were supposed to use as guides, church steeples and houses for example, were being blown all to hell by the shelling from the ships.

As they approached the beach, the men in the well deck all were getting sea sick and puking up their breakfast from either being seasick or scared or both, and the deck was slippery and gross from the mess. As they came closer to the beach, bullets began hitting the boats as they had started from a few miles off the beach, and now they were coming into range of everything from the infamous 88 millimeter high velocity guns to the MG 42 machine guns which were known to shoot almost a thousand rounds a minute. The only protection the men on the plywood LCVP's was the metal bow ramp/door that would soon be lowered so the troops could get off the boat.

My father had to man one of the .30 cal machine guns mounted in the rear of the boat and he also had to duck down into the engine bay to make sure the engine still worked and he had to empty the sand traps that provided the engine with cooling water from the sea. He had to do this while the Germans were desperately trying to kill him and all of the others who were attempting to land on the beach.

The section of Normandy beach my father was assigned to was Omaha Beach, the worst one of the five beaches the Allies would be landing on.

They landed at low tide, which means the beach was about three hundred yards wide and the troops had a long ways to go before they had any kind of relative safety up along the steep cliff. After the boat was empty, it had to back out of its location and get out of the way of the next wave of landing craft coming in.

The boat would then go back to the ship and get another load of troops or other gear and make the long trip back to the beach. Once at the beach, they would unload the gear, then get a load of wounded soldiers and take them back to the ship where they would be unloaded and then the boat would get a fresh load of troops, etc.

This went on all day long.

A lot of landing craft did not return to their home ships, along with a lot of my father's shipmates and friends.

Late in the afternoon of June 6, 1944, the USS Charles Carroll (APA-28), after unloading all of the men and equipment it had carried to the beach, hoisted its anchor and got underway back to England where the wounded aboard her were taken to better medical facilities ashore to be mended and sent home if they were wounded badly enough. Some died before they made it this far.

After the Normandy invasion, the Charles Carroll was sent back to the Mediterranean to invade the South Coast of France.

When done there, the USS Charles Carroll was assigned to the Pacific and was at Okinawa on April 1, 1945. The Carroll carried the famous war correspondent Ernie Pyle and my father was one who got a chance to talk with him while on the cruise.

Such was they way it was for my father and I was taught about his war experiences by him. A lot of men did not return. My father never got a scratch.

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Job in Houston a CPO posted


Position is in the inside sales area of the service division of Powell Industries (NASDAC POWL), located in Houston, Texas. Our office is located 1 mile west of Hobby Airport on Airport Blvd.

I am retiring after 25 years with the company and at age 64. I may move into a part-time consulting contract with Powell, only working two days a week, but not critical, as I'm shifting to expand my time managing Renaissance Faires in the Texas area.

We have immediate openings for at least two individuals in the estimating (inside sales) area. Work includes receiving customers specifications (which can fall between a hand-drawn sketch on a napkin to a several thousand page specification). Basic electrical theory is necessary (know the ANSI device designations). We use a custom Oracle business system, which will be taught. Knowledge of Microsoft applications (Word, Excel, etc.) needed.

Often, our customers are not technically oriented, so the estimators must be able to communicate with the customer and determine their present and future needs (i.e., the switchgear must do "this" now, but we want to do "this" in a few years).

The preference would be for a retired Nuke Electrician, but any rating with electrical theory background should be able to get trained up.

Oh yes, Powell is the largest independent switchgear manufacturer in North America. We have factories in Houston, North Canton, Ill, Canada, and the U.K. We manufacture power distribution equipment from 480V to 38,000V, motor control, power control rooms, integrated control systems. Five years ago, we purchased the General Electric PowerVac switchgear division, and we continue to grow.

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The Wall
A little history most people will never know.
Interesting Veterans Statistics off the Vietnam Memorial Wall
 
There are 58,267 names now listed on that polished black wall, including those added in 2010.
 
The names are arranged in the order in which they were taken from us by date and within each date the names are alphabetized. It is hard to believe it is 36 years since the last casualties.
 
The first known casualty was Richard B. Fitzgibbon, of North Weymouth,  Mass. Listed by the U.S. Department of Defense as having been killed on June 8, 1956. His name is listed on the Wall with that of his son, Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Richard B. Fitzgibbon III, who was killed on Sept. 7, 1965.
 
There are three sets of fathers and sons on the Wall.

39,996 on the Wall were just 22 or younger.
 
8,283 were just 19 years old.
 
The largest age group: 33,103 were 18 years old. 

12 soldiers on the Wall were 17 years old.
 
5 soldiers on the Wall were 16 years old.
 
One soldier, PFC Dan Bullock was 15 years old.
 
997 soldiers were killed on their first day in Vietnam ..
 
1,448 soldiers were killed on their last day in Vietnam ..
 
31 sets of brothers are on the Wall.
 
Thirty one sets of parents lost two of their sons.
 
54 soldiers attended Thomas Edison High School in Philadelphia . 
 
8 Women are on the Wall. Nursing the wounded.
 
244 soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam War; 153 of them are on the Wall.
 
Beallsville, Ohio with a population of 475 lost 6 of her sons.
 
West Virginia had the highest casualty rate per capita in the nation. There are 711 West Virginians on the Wall.
 
The Marines of Morenci - They led some of the scrappiest high school football and basketball teams that the little Arizona copper town of Morenci (pop. 5,058) had ever known and cheered. They enjoyed roaring beer busts. In quieter moments, they rode horses along the Coronado Trail, stalked deer in the Apache National Forest. And in the patriotic camaraderie typical of Morenci's mining families, the nine graduates of Morenci High enlisted as a group in the Marine Corps. Their service began on Independence Day, 1966. Only 3 returned home.
 
The Buddies of Midvale - LeRoy Tafoya, Jimmy Martinez, Tom Gonzales were all boyhood friends and lived on three consecutive streets in Midvale, Utah on Fifth, Sixth and Seventh avenues. They lived only a few yards apart. They played ball at the adjacent sandlot ball field. And they all went to Vietnam. In a span of 16 dark days in late 1967, all three would be killed. LeRoy was killed on Wednesday, Nov. 22, the fourth anniversary of John F. Kennedy's assassination. Jimmy died less than 24 hours later on Thanksgiving Day. Tom was shot dead assaulting the enemy on Dec. 7, Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day.
 
The most casualty deaths for a single day was January 31, 1968 ~ 245 deaths.
 
The most casualty deaths for a single month was May 1968 - 2,415 casualties were incurred.
 
For most Americans who read this they will only see the numbers that the Vietnam War created. To those of us who survived the war, and to the families of those who did not, we see the faces, we feel the pain that these numbers created. We are, until we too pass away, haunted with these numbers, because they were our friends, fathers, husbands, wives, sons and daughters. There are no noble wars, just noble warriors.
 
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Captain Last Man to Leave Sinking Ship

3438925213?profile=originalIt is distressing to this sailor to read accounts of the terrible loss of life onboard the South Korean ferry, most all high school students off for a vacation.

There was an inexperienced third mate at the helm and after she made a hard right turn, the ship capsized.

And who were some of the first "rescued" and off the ship? The captain and his officers.  

Same for the captain of the Costa Line's"Concordia," the ship that ran aground of an Italian Island (see photo).  He miraculously was one of the first off the ship as well.

What happened to the maritime tradition where the Captain, the Commanding Officer, was the last to depart a sinking ship? What does leadership mean?

Fortunately, both skippers, although I shouldn't use that honored term for these men, have been arrested on multiple charges.

Remember Captain of the US Airways flight that glided to a perfect landing in the Hudson River? Captain Sullenberger strode through waist deep waters to the rear of the cabin checking that all passengers had, indeed, departed safely before he did so.

Reminds me also of recently reading history of USS Hornet CV-8, the General James Doolittle carrier that launched those B-25s  in first raid on Tokyo early in 1942.  Later that year, in battle of Santa Cruz, I believe, it was kamikazied to death and Admiral Halsey ordered all to abandon ship on 26 October.  The captain, Charles P. Mason, was the last man to climb over the side and  leave his sinking vessel there to be rescued with the rest of his crew.  

What happened to this tradition?  Maybe it's different for commercial vessels?

Sad commentary when captain is first, not last, to depart a sinking ship.

What we owe to captains like Charles P. Mason of Hornet and Chesley Sullenberger of US Airways!

Bravo Zulu!

John Barell

www.absolutebearing.info

www.morecuriousminds.com

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The Problem With Brits...

Generally speaking, I have no problem with those who live in Great Britain. A large portion of my own ancestry came from, or originated in, parts of Great Britain. I have a big gob of Irish in my makeup, as well as some Scot. But as my name is "Asche", which is most assuredly of German in its origin, I can not hold all of those who hail from Great Britain in total regard as being friendly.

I do tolerate them, however.

One thing that bugs me about those whom I may call "brits", which is most assuredly a derogatory term, is that they seem to believe their views are the "way it should be" and seek to deposit those beliefs on the rest of us.

After all, it has been said that Great Britain and America are two countries separated by a common language. And brother, let me tell you, the English Language SUFFERS GREATLY when used by those who claim to be the masters of it.

As an example of what I am referencing here, let us examine the word "Aluminum". This word is the name we use for a metal derived from the natural ore, Bauxite, and is a light weight, durable, easily worked and formed metal that has many uses and has served mankind very well over the years since it has been discovered.

You give a word such as "Aluminum" to a brit, they can't possibly get it right, or correct, either.

The correct pronunciation of this word is: "Al", as in "Al and I had a beer at the local pub.", "OOH" as in "OOH, that felt GOOD!", "Min" as in "Min-imum is the least amount", and "Um" as in "Um, Mommy, I didn't do it"

So you see Al OOH Min Um is the correct way to say the damn word.

Now, a brit will get it all bent out of shape and come out with: "Al-You-Min- EE-Yum". And thus we have a problem trying to communicate with these people. They don't even know their own bloody language. 

Another thing about brits is they live on a tiny bloody island and they don't get out much. Seeing "the BIG picture" is dependent on how big the telly is in the sitting room at home.

We have bailed them out of two world wars and yet we still have to put up with their brand of rubbish about animal rights and firearms control. Seems it would benefit them more to clean up their bloody misuse of the language and their own back yards before lecturing us about how things are, or should be, in the remainder of the world. 

OK, So they built a tunnel over to France. Who the hell said the French knew any better?

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Passing of HTCS Tomas Kirk


Thomas Eugene "Sonny BoyKirk

 
Obituary
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Thomas Eugene "Sonny Boy" Kirk
Royston, Ga.
Mr. Thomas Eugene "Sonny Boy" Kirk, 80, of Royston, GA passed away on Thursday, April 17, 2014, at the University of Florida Health Shands Hospital in Gainesville, FL.
Born in Madison County, GA on May 06, 1933, he was the son of the late Vivian Kirk Argo of Royston, GA. He graduated from Ila High School in Ila, GA and enlisted into the U.S. Navy at age 17. 
During his naval career he attained a college equivalent degree in Mechanical Engineering and was promoted to Non-Destructive Test Supervisor in the maintenance and repair of nuclear ballistic missile submarines. He served during the Korean and Vietnam wars, the Cuban Crisis, and the Blockades of Libya, Guatemala, and Honduras. He retired from the U.S. Navy at the rank of Senior Chief Hull Maintenance Technician. Mr. Kirk went to Iran under the Shah Regime and taught Imperial Iranian Naval officers the technical use of radioactive isotopes and x-ray equipment. He then joined Arabian American Oil Company (ARAMCO) in Saudi Arabia as Senior Engineering Inspector and worked in the offshore oil fields of the Northern Persian Gulf for 11 years. 
Upon returning to the U.S., he went to Kingsland, GA where he worked for the U.S. Navy as Warranty Engineer and Quality Assurance Analyst in the building of the Naval Submarine Base at Kings Bay. He performed major duties with the Census Bureau in conducting the 2000 U.S. Census. 
Mr. Kirk worked as fabrication supervisor for Royston Manufacturing Company until he became disabled by the installation of a pace maker and mechanical heart valve in 2004.
He was a life member of the Fleet Reserve Association, Veterans of Foreign Wars, GA Sheriffs Association, and the U.S.S Fessenden Association. Mr. Kirk was a member of The Society of Non-Destructive Testing Association and held a level III certification. He was a member of the American Welding Society and held welder certifications for 12 different welding techniques. Also, he was an official member of The North American Fishing and Hunting Club.
Mr. Kirk was an honest, generous, and God loving man of both Catholic and Baptist faith. He was the author of the book of short stories entitled "Speck of Dirt" and held the world record for having a child after remaining sterile for 25 years, 2 months and 2 days. 
Survivors include his wife, Lhyn Tobias Kirk; son, Dale Kirk of Goose Creek, SC; daughters, Lisa Lynne Kirk Bennett of Royston, GA, Debbie Kirk Lawler of FL and Cindy Kirk of Goose Creek, SC; brother, Kenneth Leaird of Little Rock, ARK; and sister, Nora Jean Chitwood of Royston, GA.
In addition to his mother, Mr. Kirk was preceded in death by a son, Jeffery Neil Kirk.
Funeral services for Mr. Kirk will be held on Wednesday, April 23, 2014 at 2 p.m. at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Hartwell, GA with Father Rafael Castano officiating. Burial will follow in the Franklin Memorial Gardens-South in Royston. The family will receive friends from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Tuesday evening. The family is at the home.
Online condolences may be made by visiting http://www.pruittfhroyston.com.
Pruitt Funeral Home in Royston, GA is in charge of arrangements.
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